Criteria and guidelines for Nordic project partners that apply for funding from NordForsk

Nordic participation in the international call "Changing Nature of Security and Conflict" is a collaborative effort between SSHRC and NordForsk.

The call text and the supporting documents and guidelines describe the general requirements and criteria that apply to all applicants and consortium partners. This document describes additional criteria that apply to the Nordic partners of a consortium, and the terms and conditions for applying for funding from NordForsk.

Applicants must carefully read the call text and all supporting documents and ensure that they fulfil the general requirements and criteria, and that the proposal is eligible. The Nordic partners must in addition ensure that they fulfil the requirements and criteria described in the following and that are specific to the Nordic partners that apply for funding from NordForsk.

Funding from NordForsk requires Nordic research collaboration, and the Nordic part of the international consortium must therefore include partners from a minimum of two different Nordic countries.

One of the Nordic team members must serve as a CoPrincipal Investigator on the international project team.

Available Nordic budget: Up to 6 MNOK.

Maximum amount of funding that may be sought: The Nordic partners of a project proposal can apply for a maximum of 400 000 NOK in total.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for funding from NordForsk via this call, the following criteria must be met:

• The research consortium must include research performing organisations1 in at least two different Nordic countries. Nordic countries are defined here as Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland Islands.
• One of the Nordic partners must be the host institution for the Nordic part of the consortium. The host institution of a funded project will enter the financial agreement with NordForsk on behalf of the Nordic part of the consortium and manage the funds on behalf of the Nordic partners.
• The host institution for the Nordic part of the project must be an established research performing organisation based in one of the Nordic countries.
• The leader of the Nordic part of the project and the Nordic contact person must be a qualified researcher with a PhD and employed by the host institution throughout the duration of the project.
• The Nordic project leader will have the role of one of the minimum two required co-PIs of the international project team.
• A research-performing organisation¹ is a legal entity which is a university, university college, or research institute and is characterised by the following criteria:
• Having as its primary goal to independently conduct fundamental research and/or applied research and or research-based innovation where results are published.
• The organisation may be private or public but must not pay dividends from its activities. Research organisations pursuing both non- economic and economic activities must have a formal separation in place between its economic and non-economic activities.
• The organisation must have a significant production of academic, peer-reviewed, and published research.

• Nordic project partners that apply for funding from NordForsk must be research performing organisations.
• NordForsk cannot co-fund projects that collaborate with the Russian Federation or Belarus under this call.

Economic undertakings cannot receive funding from NordForsk under this call.

Applications that do not fulfil the above eligibility criteria will not be considered for funding from NordForsk.

¹A research-performing organisation is a legal entity which is a university, university college, or research institute and is characterised by the following criteria:

- Having as its primary goal to independently conduct fundamental research and/or applied research and or research-based innovation where results are published.

- The organisation may be private or public but must not pay dividends from its activities. Research organisations pursuing both non- economic and economic activities must have a formal separation in place between its economic and non-economic activities.

- The organisation must have a significant production of academic, peer-reviewed, and published research.

Financial Framework

Nordic partners of an international project team that submit a proposal to the call are invited to apply for funding for their participation in the proposed research project with a budget of maximum CAD $58,000 (approx. NOK 413 867) of funding sought in total among the Nordic partners. The intention is to fund Nordic participation in 15 knowledge synthesis projects under this call.

• The grant does not cover salaries for research activities aimed at generating new knowledge, or activities as teaching or other departmental duties.

Funding may be used for costs that are necessary for the implementation of the Nordic activities in the project, such as:

• Salaries of researchers corresponding to the person’s activity level in the knowledge synthesis project.
• PhD and post-doctoral hourly rates corresponding to the person’s activity level in the knowledge synthesis project.
• Running costs (data collection and analysis, consumables, minor equipment, premises)
• Mobility and travels.
• Dissemination, outreach, and knowledge exchange activities (including open access charges).
• Stakeholder and Indigenous rightsholder involvement/activities.
• Indirect costs and overhead.

Costs can be allocated to engage subcontractors that contribute to the implementation of certain tasks in the project. Subcontractors are not considered consortium partners and may not be granted rights to project results.

All costs must be explained. Indirect costs and overhead may be included. All salaries should be calculated in gross (person-months) and include social costs, overhead etc. NordForsk does not apply any fixed rate or model for calculating indirect costs. Such costs should be determined by the participating organisations according to their own rules and models, and applicants are advised to consult these for further guidelines. The rate for overhead should be explained under the budget justification section. The feasibility of the budget will be assessed.

Salaries for applicants who are not affiliated with a research organisation in a Nordic country cannot be covered by the Nordic grant. However, travel and accommodation costs may be covered for participants from outside the Nordic region, provided that they are not eligible to apply for funding from non-Nordic funding organisations.

Management and monitoring of projects that are granted funding from NordForsk

NordForsk will sign a contract with the Nordic host organisation, and this contract will set out the specific funding rates in accordance with NordForsk Standard Terms and Conditions of Contract. The Nordic host organisation will be responsible for managing the Nordic grant on behalf of the Nordic project partners.

A consortium agreement regulating the rights and obligations of the Nordic institutions/partners involved in the project must be signed by the Nordic project partners before any funding will be disbursed, but projects can start earlier. NordForsk encourages all partners in the international consortium to enter into such an agreement; however, at a minimum, an agreement between the Nordic partners is required.

A final report regarding the Nordic part of the project must be submitted to NordForsk at the end of the funding period. The Nordic project leader will be responsible for submitting a final report to NordForsk regarding the NordForsk grant and the Nordic part of the project. The final report will include a financial report, and an impact report.

Compliance to NordForsk’s policies on open access, gender equality, and data management

The Nordic team are expected to comply with the NordForsk policies on Open Access and Gender Equality. The Nordic team are expected to implement good data management practices such as the FAIR principles.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in grant applications

Any use of AI tools must be ethical and responsible, and respecting legal and research standards and requirements. The use of generative AI should be transparent. Nordic Applicants are advised to read the European Commission’s Living guidelines on the responsible use of generative AI in research.

Responsible internationalisation

As applicants in this call, researchers must adhere to their national rules regarding responsible international cooperation.

NordForsk contact

Questions can be submitted via email (see contact information below). These questions will be answered publicly on NordForsk website in an FAQ available at the bottom of the call page. The FAQ will be updated continuously. 

For all questions related to the call, please contact: KSG26-QA@nordforsk.org